Category: health issues

Somalis avoiding vaccinations, children developing measles

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Two readers sent this story from Minneapolis today.

From MSNBC:

MINNEAPOLIS — Three more young children in Minneapolis have contracted measles, including two who were not immunized because of fears about the safety of the vaccine.

The Minnesota Department of Health is working closely with Hennepin County Public Health staff in their investigation. The three new cases were reported in children between 23 months and 4 years of age, living in Minneapolis who likely acquired their infections in Minneapolis.

The children became ill between March 1 and March 9. Two of the three new cases were hospitalized, and all are recovering.

[…..]

Two of the four children are Somali. They had not been vaccinated because of parental concerns about the standard vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). In recent years, MMR vaccination has dropped in the Somali community because of concerns about safety.

[…..]

“It is every parent’s responsibility to vaccinate their children for measles, mumps and rubella to protect them against these deadly diseases,” said Dr. Abdirahman D. Mohamed, Chief of Staff of Axis Medical Center, Minneapolis. Dr. Mohamed said he knows of four unvaccinated Somali children (two in the U.S. and two in other countries) who have died from measles. He stressed the importance of reaching the community with the message that vaccination is important.

They don’t say it in this story but Somalis got the erroneous idea that American medical requirements—vaccinations—were responsible for an epidemic of autism in Minneapolis among Somali children.  However, studies on autism are increasingly pointing a finger to a Vitamin D deficiency in northern cities exacerbated by dark skinned women covering themselves from head to toe and thus not getting any sunshine during pregnancy.  I told you about the latest research here.

And, you wonder why our health care costs are skyrocketing……

Iraqis bring costly mental problems to Illinois…

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and the mean governor will make their problems worse with budget cuts!

Well, that is basically what this article is about—I’m just saying it more directly.   These Lefties are masters at planting sob stories, one after the other, as propaganda for their political goals.   As I said the other day, the radical agitators at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights are scared of being dumped off of the taxpayer gravy train.

So stories like this one pop up everywhere.  From Medill Reports (you can read the whining stuff), but below is the pertinent takeaway message from the article:

While refugees in the past typically came from specific areas all at once, today those settling in Illinois come from 62 different countries according to the Illinois Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services. This poses new challenges for those aiding refugees as there are many new language and cultural differences to take into account. Additionally, private social service agencies may find themselves financially pressed given deep cuts proposed for refugee assistance programs in Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2012 state budget.

I wonder to the Lefty organizers give this paragraph to a news outlet and then instruct the reporter to build a sob story around that paragraph?

Vaccine theory completely debunked as cause of autism…

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….so maybe we can stop blaming America!

We have written several times on these pages about the high levels of autism in children in Somali communities in places like Minnesota and Scandinavia.  Now comes word that the completely discredited work of a British doctor had given false hope to Somalis in Minneapolis.  If they stopped vaccinating their kids, autism would go away!

The now disgraced British doctor who scared the world with his theory linking childhood vaccines with autism, recently spread his debunked theories to Somali families in Minneapolis.

Andrew Wakefield’s 1994 research paper has just been declared a “deliberate fraud” by the British Medical Journal.

[…..]

He’s since been stripped of his medical license in the U.K. But didn’t stop him from coming to Minneapolis in December to spread his debunked theories among desperate Somali mothers and fathers of autistic kids.

When the realization came to Somalis in Minneapolis that their children had higher rates of autism than other ethnic groups they were happy to latch on to the vaccine theory because maybe then the government would owe them something.  But, increasingly the focus on autism is headed toward several theories including a genetic link (polygamy would quickly spread such genes).  Or, and this is what I think as just an observer with no medical training.

It’s the sun stupid (or lack of it)!

No one wants to talk about it—-the possibility that autism is linked to a Vitamin D deficiency during a mother’s gestation period—because it means Islamic practices might be the culprit.  If you think about it, the rates of autism shot up just about the time that everyone in the US went crazy worrying about skin cancer (we all hid from the sun and slathered up with sunscreen)!   I’m digressing from the focus of this blog, but everyone should have a blood test for Vit. D and if deficient (almost everyone is!), get your levels up.

So, it stands to reason that a woman living in the far north and covered from head to toe would be severely deficient in the vitamin.  Here is just one report on this theory discussing research from Sweden and Minneapolis.

It would save enormous amounts of tax dollars (to the educational system in Minnesota) if the Minnesota Dept. of Health blood-tested (for a D-deficiency) every pregnant woman who is covered, all those not covered up for religious reasons too, and everyone stop pointing the finger of blame at America and vaccines.

Just as I was wrapping up this post I came across this interesting 2008 report on the various possible causes of high Somali autism rates.  Although it is focused heavily on the now-discredited vaccine theory it did raise the Vit. D question.  But this is how the author wraps up:

“Some autism families have returned to Somalia,” said one mother, who did not want to be identified. “They were angry and disgusted with the United States. The nation that offered them refuge was the same nation that made their children so sick,” she said.

“They think that, by returning home, maybe they can make their children better.”

But wait!  I thought it was so dangerous in Somalia and that is why we have taken nearly 100,000 Somalis since the 1980’s?

Jamestown, ND: the newest Somali Tuula?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We learned from Khadra, a Somali commenter here at RRW, that Somalis are creating what they call Tuulas (villages) in many US cities.  Frankly she calls it an “invasion” and says that Somalis have no intention of assimilating.  You can read Khadra’s shocking discussion here and then here she was back again yesterday commenting about the situation with the growing Somali population in Southwest Kansas.  This is what she said yesterday:

I have read about what is going on in Kansas and in other small towns like Maine. Somalis will turn these small towns into a largely populated Somali town, because if Minnesota is the U.S capital of Somali people then a small town or city cannot stand a chance.

From the Jamestown Sun, where folks are trying to figure out how to “serve” the Somalis:

Traditional Muslim attire requires her to cover her face and hands, but Fatumo Aden hides her chin for other reasons. She masks the injury from the gunshot wound she suffered at 5 years old.

Aden’s story is similar to the tales of about 30 Somali refugees already living in or moving to Jamestown. They come from different clans and families, but they all seek employment, homes for their families and education for their children after living in a country torn by war for nearly 20 years.

Representatives from local agencies and businesses attended an informational session Wednesday to learn about Somali culture and how best to serve those people here.

[…..]

So far, about 30 Somalis have moved here, but about 400 have applied for housing since March, said Dave Klein of the Stutsman County Housing Authority.

You can read the whole article.  I am so weary of these politically correct refugee advocates who can’t tell what is going on.

Changing the subject

I was interested in the Jamestown story’s discussion of the fact that Somali women must cover up from head to toe.

In Fargo, for example, employers allowed for prayer time during the business day. Muslims are required to pray five times a day and one of them is at about 1:30 p.m. Also, employers allowed for long gloves and other uniform adjustments at businesses where loose clothing like shawls and headdresses could pose a hazard. Muslim women are required to cover most of their body including wrists and ankles.

Some time ago I wrote a couple of posts on very high rates of autism in the Somali population in Minnesota and in Sweden.  The Minnesota Somali children were costing the school system enormous sums of taxpayer money.  Of course the Somalis were blaming it on America and the fact that they had to get their kids vaccinated.  I hypothesized that it was about genetics and about the SUN!

Now comes word that a Swedish study thinks it’s a lack of Vitamin D from mothers not getting enough sun!  Of course the politically correct don’t mention that these women are covered from head to toe!  North Dakota and Maine will be next with the problem if they don’t already have it!

A study from Sweden has reported that Somali immigrants in Stockholm experience three to four times more cases of autism and other related disorders than non-Somalis in the same area. A similar situation exists in Minnesota, among its Somali immigrants. Autism is unknown in Somalia.

It is speculated that the problem may be that the Somali immigrants get less sun, and therefore less vitamin D, in these northern regions than they would in their own country. People with darker skin do not synthesize vitamin D as quickly as those who have lighter skin.

Enjoy the diversity, Jamestown!

Update July 3: Here is another, more detailed, article about Somalis, Autism and Vitamin D, but again no mention of the fact that in addition to living in the North the women are completely covered.

Ft. Wayne: health program for Burmese refugees to end

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is the beginning of the straight news story about the end of the Advantage program for Ft. Wayne, Indiana refugees:

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A state funded program that assists Burmese refugees coordinate health care needs will end this summer.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s 18-month contract with Advantage Health Solutions ends on July 1. The Indiana-based group helps arrange health care providers, translation and transportation services for Burmese refugees.

The program, which cost more than $100,000 a year, was designed to be a temporary transition and education tool according to the FSSA. Spokesman Marcus Barlow said the service should have helped community members learn how the American health system works allowing them would then be able to spread that knowledge to others.

It’s not responsible to keep [the program] going indefinitely. It was just intended for a certain amount of time to get people used to the services, people [to know] services exist,” Barlow said.

O.K. that didn’t sound too horrible, the program was to teach refugees how to find health care, but this Twitter Journalism report sounds a lot more ominous.

Indiana will cut funding to health services caring for Fort Wayne’s Burmese population. Illnesses such as tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, with greater percentages in the Burmese community than Fort Wayne at-large, will go untreated due to the funding cuts to social services. Without proper treatment there is a worry that these illnesses will flourish in the Burmese community and then to the rest of Fort Wayne’s population as well as overloading emergency rooms.

“Fort Wayne’s Burmese population is a ‘reservoir of HIV, resistant tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C,’ ” Lutheran Health Network CEO Michael Schatzlein wrote to a colleague in February, quoting his infectious disease specialist, Dr. Suzanne Smith-Elekes.

Some fear that by not having the foresight to treat these illnesses early on, they could spread. By cutting services and programs that deal with preventative medicine and educating the refugees to receive proper treatment may be more costly in the long run.

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry told Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) officials that “ending the Advantage program without an effective follow-up strategy will put public health at risk, lead to a less-healthy refugee population, overburden the local health care system and … , cost the state more than it is currently spending on refugee health care.” Fort Wayne now has over 5,000 refugees and has worked with catholic charities, St. Joseph Community Health Center and other organizations to have established a Community Resource Center to assist them.

Then we have this comment by Deb McMahan, the Health Commissioner for Allen County.  Funny thing is that we heard from her here in 2007 and it seems like not much has changed.  Ft. Wayne could have said NO (for awhile) to more refugees but didn’t, so no sympathy here.

“We invited them here. We should be able to assist them.” said Allen County Health Commissioner Deb McMahan.

Not to worry, Obamacare has passed and all this will be taken care of out of Obama’s stash!